The present invention generally relates to gravity-feeding racks for storing and displaying a plurality of containers and for dispensing the containers one at a time at a front, forward-facing product unloading area. More particularly, it relates to a vertically oriented rack with a barrel-roll feeding feature adapted to receive and store glass jar containers on their sides for display and dispensing in a supermarket refrigerated display case.
Storage and display devices for displaying a variety of food products in supermarkets are well known. Plastic packaging provides margin portions from which products may be hung on a hook or clamped for suspended display. In the field of a refrigerated or fresh foods, as opposed to staples and dry goods, storage and display devices should not only separate different products in an organized manner, but also preferably will assist store personnel in rotating the stock so that new products are added to the rear of the display for vending after previously stored products have been vended. Maintaining organized displays of distinct products matched to their pricing codes in supermarket shelves is a difficult and time consuming task. Usually, several man hours per week are required to assure proper stock rotation, to re-face the shelves and to manage proper shelf inventories. Refrigerator display cases need to be examined generally at least once every day to monitor the shelf volumes to ensure that sufficient product is placed in the front display cases from rear, walk-in refrigerated storage areas to meet current demands.
Special problems may arise with foods stored in glass jars, especially those which must be stored in refrigeration display cases. The glass jarred products may be loaded onto shelves and freely stacked to form a double layer of product. However, stacking the jars without retaining bins, dividers or shelf guards creates a significant risk of breakage in ordinary supermarket environments. Moreover, the products frequently become mixed and matched which creates a disorganized, unattractive display which is often confusing to shoppers.
Furthermore, stock rotation of free standing glass jar products is difficult. Usually, in refrigeration display cases, space is at a premium and reloading capabilities are difficult. If the product is to be displayed on a refrigerator shelf having another shelf above it, for example, having sufficient clearance for restocking is frequently a difficult problem. In these circumstances, in order to resupply the shelves, older products on the shelf must be taken out or moved onto the floor or adjacent shelving to permit newer products to be installed toward the back of the shelf. Thereafter, the previously stored product must be re-shelved. This is extremely time consuming and presents significant risk of breakage in crowded refrigeration cases where products must be restocked while shoppers are shopping.
Another problem with free-standing stacks of jarred products placed in refrigerator cases is visibility. More particularly, as shelves are continuously re-faced during the day to push the products forward into the display zone at the front of the shelf, it may be difficult to ascertain the quantity of backup product located behind the front display products, because the view may be obstructed by the overhead shelves or lighting may be a problem. Frequently, an item may be sold out before it is noticed that new inventory needs to be brought out from storage. This results in lost sales for both the supermarket owner and the food product manufacturer.
Another major problem associated with free standing stacking of glass jar containers in refrigerator display case environments is that only small amounts of inventory can be stored at a given time. This lack of space means the shelves must be constantly tended, re-sorted, re-faced, re-stocked and rotated, which takes supermarket employees away from other jobs making them unavailable at times for customer check out cashiering and bagging.
Accordingly, to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art display racks, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved display rack storage system providing better shelf and product organization.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a display rack system in which product rotation and shelf re-facing occurs simply and preferably automatically.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved display rack storage system which offers better utilization of space, for example, by permitting a larger number of jars to be stored within the same linear feet of shelf space.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved storage display rack system which prominently displays the products being merchandised in a neatly-ordered, attractive matter.